The future of the automotive industry is not just electric, shared, and autonomous, it is also connected. Automakers and telecom companies are joining hands to develop the most user-friendly and interactive connected vehicles. Connected mobility simply means being connected to the internet and it has finally found its true calling in the Indian auto market.
We are delighted to partner with Tata Motors in the Connected Vehicle Program to help unify and synergize data through a common digital services platform enabling completely new services, innovative business models, and enhanced customer experience. We are proud to be a strategic ecosystem partner to Tata Motors in their vision for the future of mobility that is Connected, Electric, Safe and Shared– said Manoj Raghavan, MD & CEO of Tata Elxsi
India, which is now the world’s 4th largest automobile market, is also witnessing a steady rise in connected vehicles’ sales. Auto giants like Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Tata, and MG motors introduced SUVs and sub-compact SUVs with connected tech. In the new Honda City, the users can turn on the AC or headlights just by speaking to an Amazon Alexa. Kia, on the other hand, has 50,000 connected tech vehicles already plying Indian roads. Its in-house developed connected car tech is called UVO. Kia’s connected car tech, the most advanced in the Indian auto sector, offers features such as voice assisted navigation, voice-based phone calls, remote AC, engine or headlights start.
Now connected tech is where homegrown Indian companies like Tata, Mahindra, and Force Motors can make up the lost ground in the passenger vehicle sector. This can be done by collaborating with other Indian telecom companies like Jio Platforms, Tech Mahindra, and Tata Elxsi. In the most recent Jio Annual General Meeting, the company announced that it has successfully developed its own 5G solution. Jio plans on exporting its 5G solutions after a successful roll out in the Indian market.
Today, I have great pride in announcing that Jio has designed and developed a complete 5G solution from scratch. This will enable us to launch a world-class 5 service in India, using 100% homegrown technology and solutions. – said Mukesh Ambani at the Reliance AGM
5G can harness the true potential of connected and autonomous mobility. This means that using Jio’s 5G, connected cars in Indian roads would not just be able to communicate with other connected vehicles but with the entire smart IoT infrastructure. It would not only make the Indian roads safer for the public but will create invaluable unstructured data which, if adequately mined, could create the next generation of AI algorithms.
Jio has made its intention of being a global 5G player quite clear. So, one way of doing that is jointly producing world-class connected mobility technology solutions in the Indian auto market. Tata communications are working on a similar connected technology project with Microsoft. What India needs is homegrown Indian companies joining hands and creating the best in house connected mobility solutions, the only way Indian companies can win back their home passenger vehicle market share. They can also start chipping into the foreign market of global giants like Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda.
All the big giants in the automotive and telecom industry are working relentlessly to make innovative products to enable vehicle connectivity needs from a single source. This goes on to show that Indian companies and start-ups can develop complex software solutions and manufacture high tech telecom equipment to make world-class connected and autonomous mobility solutions in the future.
